Good day to all BH's! Luckily I follow several BH philosophy concepts including making sure that before retirement I had paid off my mortgage (I am 65, retired at 63). Actually I paid it off back when I was 50. However my older cousin just bought a new house in Florida at the age of 75. Not that I a...

I am of the keep it group if the annual maintenance and upkeep is reasonable, even if you can afford it. In 2003 I bought a new Lexus GX-470. I love it and just passed 320,000 miles at 13 years old. I have a personal goal of 500,000 miles. Note: I follow a maintenance schedule and use synthetic oil....

I hope someone can help me with this situation. In 2013 my MIL passed away. Her father had passed away several years ago. Many years before, maybe 25-30 years prior my FIL has purchased a EE Bond with my wife listed as POD. In 2015 my wife cashed the EE Bond. WE just received the 1099-INT form in th...

The big day is here. Thanks for all the replies. We did find out that there are some small kids. We ended up with: 1. Shutterfly photo albums of their relatives here in the US from 1910 -present time 2. Tee shirts in various sizes for the kids, sizes based on photos we have seen 3. Engraved upscale ...

First of all thank you to all you helped me plan our finances while on our 8 week trip to Europe. The trip has taken an exciting turn. I have been researching family history and have found over 50 relatives in the area around Warsaw, Poland. This has been a powerful draw to me since most of my aunts...

So my DW comes home from Costco very frustrated yesterday. Her Doctor renewed her very expensive Rx but gave her a coupon for $25 off the price. The doctor obviously knows my wife is on Medicare. The Pharmacist manager told her that since she was on Medicare that he can not accept coupons, that it w...

Sorry for the long post, but I am looking for some experienced advise on long overseas trips. Later this year I am taking an extended European trip with my wife during August, September and October. It is the trip of a lifetime, in celebration of retiring earlier this year. We want to do this while ...

With all the recent press about internet hacks on big companies I have been considering placing a credit freeze on my accounts at the big three credit bureaus. Any advise on this tactic? Some information about me: 1. My wife and I are recently retired. 2. We do not need any new credit, mortgages, ca...

Thanks in advance for any advice here. I joined the ranks of the retired 16 days ago, now transitioning to retirement slowly. Both my wife and I have separate 401-K's at Vanguard, also IRA's at Vanguard. To simplify things I am considering transferring all my 401-k assets by an in-kind transfer to m...

To all you helped me with some advice. My wife has sold her business, all contracts signed and an effective date of January 1, 2015. Actually we did not sell the business, just the goodwill. Actually received 2 offers. I agreed with Bungalow10, the sale is a client list and goodwill. First offer was...

After working since freshman year in College it is time to retire (or as I like to phrase it turn to the next chapter of my life, if not a new book". The DW (66) and I (63) retire at 5:00 pm on December 31, 2014. We are both self employed (separate companies) and we are telling our clients toda...

Thanks to all in advance. After years in the accumulation phase we are finally there. We reached or "number". No debts at all. Don't like the retirement word, but as of December 31, 2014 my wife and I will not be working. We are taking an 8 - 9 week trip in Europe, Poland, Vienna, Prague, ...

Vested1: I have lots of experience on this situation, especially Aid and Attendance. My mother and MIL were both in an ALF recently (unfortunately both died within a few months ago). Key to remember is that the VA processing of A and A is slow, took them about a year after I got all the paperwork fo...

Thanks in advance for any replies. I am in Colorado and will be visiting NJ to host a small family service for my mother who recently died. I am originally from NJ and moved 35 years ago. I am looking for a nice quiet restaurant on the coast between Newark and "the shore". Someplace with a...

Dear OP: So many of us have similar situations. In my case my 90 year old mother has been sending $1,000 per month (for over 20 years) to my 57 year old sister, plus has bought my sister 3 homes, 3 cars, paid for major bills, etc. Sis has never been married, income is $24,000 pr so per year. Now my ...

Jonathn: Hope you were able to manage your emergency and everything is better. Here are some of my notes from the group meeting. There were 5-6 of us there, interesting that most of use were engineering types. Discussed broad topics including AA ideas, writing a plan, keeping a "log", Vang...

Thanks everyone for theor advice. What appears to be reasonable is a combination of some cash up front, a monthly payment based on "held" management under contract and a phase out of my wife's responsibilities. The perfect candidate would be a person with the appropriate experience, maybe ...

I will attend depending on location. If a small crowd a Starbucks or Racine's would work. Need to be off peak. If in SE`Aurora I may be able to get our club house, but no refreashments would be available so BYOC (Coffee). I would like to discuss ideas on how to invest cash, besides Prime MM and CD's

25 years ago my wife and I started a property management business specializing in Homeowner Association management. I am involved in other businesses now, this question is really about her company now. We would like to retire in 2 years. She works out of the house ( our home was built with a dedicat...

I am almost 62, self employed and planning on retiring in 1-2 years. Currently my AA is at 25% equities-75% cash/bonds/CD's overall. My investment stragtegy is the 2 bucket plan. I have zero debt, including no mortgage, and my investments passed the $1.0 Million investable many years ago. Bucket 1 i...

I am 60 (live in Colorado) and unfortunately had to place my mother (89 yo) in an assisted living place in Florida. She wants to stay in Florida since her sister (92 yo)lives there on her own. Good news is she likes it, bad news it is expensive, about $6,000 total per month. I pay 90% of her expense...

I have had to take over my mother's finances and place her in an assisted living facility in Florida. My father died 20 years ago. He was a WW II veteran of Normandy I have heard of a program by the VA that pays about $1,100 per month towards my mother's care if she meets certain criteria. She meets...